Authors: Charlotte Oliver
Jack was obsessed with cleanliness. Usually I’d have thought nothing of it, but for some reason I felt annoyed. “OK,” I barked, and left.
As I trudged the halls, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering what the hell I’d got myself into this time.
When I got downstairs, back to the lobby where we had checked in, I did a double-take before I realised it
was
who I thought it was.
“What the FUCK are you DOING HERE?” I hissed into her ear, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her off towards a small lounge off the main lobby.
“Ow!” Sharon yelped. “Relax!”
“I do NOT have to relax. I can’t believe you followed us here. What is
wrong
with you? Haven’t you done enough?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Haven’t
I
done enough? You’re unbelievable. You just don’t get it, do you?”
“What is there to get, Shaz? I take you off on an all-expenses-paid trip, with the only requirement being that you help me get my head straight, and then when things start working out for me, you—”
“There was a requirement, was there?” she interrupted, yanking herself violently from my grasp. “That’s interesting. Because you made it quite clear that all you were expecting was for me to keep you company, and have some fun. And you also said it was the least you could do. After not speaking to me for
six months.
”
I bit my tongue. She was right. I had said that. I shuddered at the memory of that awful New Year’s Day, less than a week ago, that I turned up on her doorstep in Croydon, begging her to come with me. She nearly hadn’t.
“I gave up my fucking
job
for you, Ava. D’you realise that? Victor will
never
let me come back, not after I ditched him with an hour’s notice.”
That threw me a bit. How could that have not even crossed my mind?
Easily. You’re a selfish cow.
“You’re a selfish cow.” She was glaring at me.
I bit back tears. I wasn’t going to cry in front of her. I wasn’t going to let her turn this around. Yes, I’d made mistakes during this whole mess. Yes, I should have thought things through. But what kind of friend was she when she was so dead set against my marriage succeeding?
“That’s rich coming from you.” I spat it out, bitterly, wanting to turn the screw until it really hurt her. I wanted her to hurt the way I did. I wanted her to cry tears of blood for abandoning me—for leaving me out in the cold when all I needed was one warm word of support.
But she laughed. “What? Because I don’t just
luuurve
your Jackie Boy as much as you do? Because I don’t hang on his every word, believe everything he says?” She snorted. “He’s only the most transparent excuse for a human being I’ve ever met. He’s just—just a facade of a person. Just completely empty. Do you not
see
that? I really thought you were smarter than that, honestly I did.”
“You—you—” But the words wouldn’t come out. “How
dare
you? How dare you say that about my husband? You don’t even
know
him. You don’t even—”
She held up her hand to stop me. “Ava. He was chatting Sairi up. In the living room. While we were waiting for you. And you really expect me to treat your relationship as some kind of sacred cow? Please. Spare me.”
“That’s enough. You’re just being disgusting now. Just stop.”
She laughed again, that horrible, bitter laugh that meant there was a knife twisting in her heart. “Do you think I like telling you these things? Because I don’t. Ava, when I came out of the kitchen the first time, he was stroking her knee. And when he saw that I’d seen it, he
smirked
. Like he knew that if I told you, you’d never believe me.” Her eyes sparkled with tears. “There’s something wrong with him, Ava. You can’t go with him.
Please
.”
By then I was nauseated. “You should leave.”
“Ava—” Her voice was a plea.
“Don’t say anything.” I shrugged her searching hand from my shoulder, knowing that I was hurting her even if she didn’t show it.
Just then, as if on cue, I spotted a commotion out of the corner of my eye. And, of course: it was Tam. But you knew that already, didn’t you? Well, silly me, but I really thought I’d seen the last of him.
He was walking purposefully across the marble floor of the lobby, towards us. Sharon shrank away from me. “What the hell did you bring him here for?” I snapped at her, but she looked away furtively.
“Ava!”
His hair was dishevelled, his eyes wide and red-rimmed. He looked desperate. In another universe I would have cared—but there, in the real world, I was overwhelmed with hatred.
If Jack saw me speak to him, it could mean weeks of misery. That was it. I had to get out of here. I backed away, quickly and quietly, readying myself to disappear into the adjoining dining room.
But he was running towards me, calling my name. “Ava!
Ava! You’ll regret it. Please believe me!
”
Sharon stood to one side, motionless. She’d known he was coming. She’d been stalling me, waiting for him to arrive. I was never going to forgive her for this—never, ever. This was the end of us.
Security must have been alerted, because just then, when he was no more than ten feet away from us, two guards caught up with him.
“
Fine
!” he bellowed, as they locked their arms in his and starting trying to drag him off. “
Let’s see what Jemima has to say. Shall we?
”
I froze. Jemima.
What did he mean?
What did she have to do with anything?
What the hell was wrong with him, anyway?
Something inside me snapped. How dare he come out here, in public, and try to pull some ridiculous stunt designed to ruin my life all over again? I lobbed Sharon to one side as I shot forward; as I stalked over to him, I saw that he was dialling a number on his mobile. Then he was staring grimly at me, holding the phone to his ear. The guards, clearly aware that something important was happening, and glad that he had stopped shouting, relaxed their grip a bit, but still held him tightly under the armpits.
I had the distinct sense that I was about to witness something on par with a train wreck. Or major natural disaster.
Someone picked up on the other side.
“Hello, Jem,” he said, his voice smooth and calm. Something twinged inside of me. Jem. Jem. Why did I feel sick when he called her that? “You alright? Oh, I’m still in Cape Town. Yes, yes—listen. I have something to ask you.”
A moment of silence while she settled in for his question.
Then—“You know when Jack married that Ava girl?”
I winced. The bastard. How dare he refer to me like that—like I was some minion? I reached forward, an uncontrollable urge to injure him having come over me.
He ducked out of the way. The security guards looked on with keen interest—this was clearly more excitement than the Twelve Apostles usually enjoyed on a given afternoon. “Well, I always wanted to know. Just between the two of us. Why didn’t he just marry you instead? In fact I’m sure you told me once, didn’t you? It was something amusing, wasn’t it?”
As I was about to grab hold of him by the hair, or headbutt him, or something equally dreadful, he thrust the mobile into my face.
It was on speakerphone. Her tinny voice, caught mid-sentence, rang out across the lounge. “—like I told you. I couldn’t lose my spousal support, darling—not at fifteen grand a month.”
“What d’you mean?” he said, loudly enough for her to hear his voice, just as neutral as you please. His eyes were still locked onto mine, hard as flint.
“You know what I mean,” said the disembodied voice, sounding mildly annoyed. “My money—from Ollie. If I got married again, well, that would be bye-bye to the lucre and hello to the poorhouse. We couldn’t risk it, what with the estate being so prickly as it is. Didn’t we talk all about it that evening in Frankfurt? I’m certain we did—don’t be thick...”
She laughed coquettishly. Tam said nothing. He just stared at me—his face colder than stone, and as immobile. And inside my head, I couldn’t stop the dominoes from falling. Jem. Frankfurt. New Year . . .
“You know Jack and me . . . it’s not as if we’d let an old-fashioned marriage of convenience get in the way of anything,” she continued. “But I know how awfully traditional you are about these things, darling—don’t let me offend you . . .”
She laughed. Light as air, beautiful as a bell.
“Tam?” she said when the pause went on too long. “
Taa-aam
?”
“I’m here,” he said.
“By the way,” she said seriously, “you two did manage to get her to come back, didn’t you? You know Jack is in an absolute twist over that payout. He’s got to have it one way or another—”
Tam hung up.
People had gathered in little knots to witness the showdown. Now, as we stared silently at one another, even they began to feel like trespassers. The audience dispersed, but the guards, cottoning on that we had finished whatever encounter we’d started, nodded to me curtly and began to drag him off.
“Wait,” I called weakly. “Wait.”
When they looked back, puzzled, I motioned to them, and they seemed to understand. They let his arms drop and he found his feet instantly.
Now, for a few brief seconds, I could be angry with him—angry that he had told me. Then, I could move on to Jemima: that lasted a moment. Then it was Jack’s turn to be the subject of my wrath.
All the while, Tam wouldn’t let his gaze drop. He’d been trying to protect me from this. He’d wanted to let me down easy—not take out the heavy artillery until he had no choice.
Sharon appeared at my elbow. Silently, she steered me towards a seat, and I collapsed heavily into it.
I couldn’t cry. It was past that. I was overcome with an appalling numbness, deep and devastating.
“You were right,” I murmured to her.
I heard a sharp intake of breath. “I didn’t want to be.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said, sadly, “it’s not your fault at all.” I looked up at her, and at Tam, now standing at her side, his face a mask of pain. “Thank you for always wanting the best for me.”
“Oh, Aves.” Her eyes were full of tears. I noticed Tam was holding her hand, gripping it fiercely in a gesture of support.
And then, the next moment, Jack was standing in the doorway.
“Hello, Sharon,” he said warmly, blinking with surprise. “Are you joining us for lunch?”
Then he noticed Tam. “You fucking—” he began, raising his voice instantly, responding as quickly as a panther disturbed on its home turf. The air pressure of the room sucked sharply inward under his thunderous gaze. “What the
fuck
are you doing here?”
I was so afraid of him. It wasn’t my mind—my mind was beginning, slowly, to know the truth, to understand what it meant, to join the dots up into a single, devastating picture. It was my body. Every cell in my body screamed at me to take it to safety—away from this dangerous place, away from this man who I should never have trusted.
I looked at Tam. His face barely flickered. I thought of all the times he had endured this; the wrath of a Rutherford-West. The cutting words, waiting for him to say something wrong, waiting for a moment that was ripe for punishment.
He is so brave
, I thought, grief gripping my heart.
What has he sacrificed just to come here and tell me the truth?
Sharon was regarding Jack with thinly disguised disdain. Then she glanced back at me, aware that it was not her place to rip my husband a new arsehole without my permission.
I avoided her eyes. Fighting the fear in my body was like struggling against a murderous tide, but I had to do it. I had to think, and I had to do it fast. I had to do it instantly. Without hesitation. I was no longer going to be someone who hesitated, someone who wondered what the right thing was to do.
I knew.
“Jack,” I said, and all three of them jumped in surprise. This wasn’t my usual style—I wasn’t the type to step between anyone during a confrontation.
Jack was so thrown that he even answered me. “Yes, darling?”
“Let’s not make a scene.” I looked at him pointedly. “I’ve already heard everything I need to hear from Tam. There’s really nothing else to say.” I smiled, a clear-eyed smile, unafraid. Even though I didn’t feel it. “Why don’t we go and have some lunch? Sharon and Tam were just leaving.”
Jack was staring at me with sort of impressed amusement.
Who would have thought little Ava had such sangfroid?
he was probably saying to himself.
Indeed. Who would have thought?
I turned to Sharon. Poor thing—she looked utterly horrified. “Ava—”
She stopped the moment she’d had a chance to read the expression on my face.
Don’t,
I said to her silently.
Don’t say another word. There’s nothing more you can do.